Ulta Beauty — Local services in Peoria

I buy my grooming items and makeup online, so I can't speak to this store's selection or pricing. My two experiences with checkout girls was 50-50. First time, I was impressed with the lady's courtesy and expertise. Second time, the girl who deigned to wait on me was... um... slow (both meanings: sluggish... intent on making me wait, and ...dim-witted) It reminds me of another reviewer's complaint about an associate walking away from her. It may have been the same Entitled Princess: Who chooses which customers she'll help.

Anyway, my reason for being in the store was to have my hair done. It seemed a good idea to go online to select/schedule hair services and also find prices. It was NOT a good idea. Please see attached photo if you aren't sure...

The hairdresser either couldn't, or didn't listen to me when I specified what color I wanted. She repeatedly interrupted me mid-sentence. There's a children's book titled "Interrupting Chicken"... exactly that concept! She seemed to believe she KNEW what I was going to say (or thought I SHOULD say) before I had the chance to tell her. Profoundly presumptuous! Unfortunately, I thought she'd UNDERSTOOD what color I wanted (a very ash-tone highlighted medium-blond). Apparently, she did NOT hear me as I repeatedly asserted that I did NOT want brassy (yellow) blond. At the end of this verrrry loooong 3-1/2 hour appointment, she left my hair half-dry, rather than actually styling it. So I really couldn't see the actual color tone while in the salon. However, since this very bad hairdresser spent at least 5 minutes congratulating herself on what a good job she did (even pressuring her colleague for congratulations on how nice my hair allegedly looked) I believed her.

Bottom line... I left there with yellow hair. Wow.

After a battle to get her to fix my hair the next available day... and I tried EVERYTHING... repeatedly... to communicate to her what I had originally expected... she redid some highlights, and said she could get rid of the 'yellow' with her "extra-special super-conditiong toner". Then decided to apply this extra-special toner to the bottom half of my hair and forget to rinse it out.

Again, please see attached photo. Sadly... NOW I have DARK brown hair under the highlights. And... the HIGHLIGHTS only go HALFWAY down from the roots. I have blond hair for the first 4 inches of hair... and THEN dark brown hair for the remaining 5 inches. IT...LOOKS...RIDICULOUS!!!

And this horrible hairdresser (who thinks she's a genius) THEN expected me to pay... AGAIN...TWICE... $130.00 for this SECOND nightmarish color fiasco!!! That's right. I'd ALREADY given her $130.00 the first time. THEN, after the SECOND miserable failure... she truly believed that her pathetic clumsy efforts (please again see attached photo) were worth... $260.00!!!!! I'm screwed! Gonna have to get all my hair cut off!!! There may be some decent hairdressers at this location. Roberta is NOT...

I, originally, gave a five star rating for my visit to Ulta. I am always able to find the products I need. However, my salon experience was HORRIBLE. I am a Black woman. I called to make an appointment for a haircut. I was assured that a stylist named Roberta could cut my hair. I went over a day before my appointment, met with Roberta, and showed her the cut I wanted. She assured me that she could cut the exact style (as my birthday was the next day and I was attending a party). I showed up the next day, opened my phone to the haircut, and asked, AGAIN, if she was sure she could do the style. She assured me, AGAIN, that she could. I even left my phone open for her to review. She cut my hair into a short pixie that I did not ask for and proceeded to tell me that she could cut the style I, actually, wanted "the next time!" She insinuated that I didn't have enough hair for the style I wanted. I know she cut 8-10 inches off! So, what did she mean I didn't have enough hair? My Caucasian friends said that she cut my hair in a "typical old, White lady who works as a bank teller" hairstyle. I'm pissed about it. I did get a refund. Even during that process, the store manager was rude and dismissive of my concerns. I called to verbalize my malcontent at the 800 number. I was hung up on 5 times when I mentioned that I was calling to report my experience. The phone clicked right in my ear after I said the word "complaint " I, finally, spoke to a nice lady who took my complaint and assured me that I would hear something back in a couple of days. It's been nearly 10 days with no response. Hmmmmm. Oh, I read through the reviews and saw where Roberta messed up someone else's hair 11 months ago. I'm sure she has some skill. But, NEVER, EVER will she touch my...

I had scheduled an appt for brows 3 times and 2/3 times of trying to reschedule, they were cancelled by the lady who works the benefit brow area. I was quite frustrated after the 2nd cancellation on her end ( to not put the blame on her completely, i had to reschedule once as well, but today was her 2nd time canceling on me). The lady from the salon area said that they were "trained the exact same way" as the lady at the brow bar and that they could still wax my eyebrows. I should've known better, but i went ahead and had the appt. I said i only need them cleaned up, i don't want them thin. don't get me wrong- the lady who waxed me was VERY sweet and personable, but my eyebrows look awful. in my honest opinion, they are NOT trained properly to do eyebrows and they shouldnt be offering the services if theyre not able to give the customer a good result. they are paper thin.. think of eye brows in the 80's/90's when the ladies overplucked. I'm really upset. I even tried to put product on them, and it didn't make a difference. again- this review has nothing to do with the stylists personality, but more so a BIG WARNING to not accept an appointment with anyone from the Salon (one of the hair stylists) of Ulta when it comes to your eyebrows. I'm saddened that I didn't stick with my original feeling to just schedule with the Benefit Bar in East Peoria. Don't let my mistake be yours. horrible,...